Thursday, February 17, 2011

We don't know the details of the "brutal and sustained sexual assault and beating" of CBS News correspondent Lara Logan in Tahrir Square as the Egyptian crowd celebrated the resignation of Hosni Mubarek, but we know enough.

Among the things we know is that the night before the attack Logan had been accused by Egyptian police of being an Israeli agent, and that the crowd shouted "Jew! Jew!" as it attacked her, similar to chants of death to the Jews outside a synagogue in Tunisia.

One of the haunting aspects of the reported story is that photo of Logan in the moments before the attack, as the angry crowd swirled around her and she seemed to recognize that she was in trouble.

We don't know enough yet to say if any of the young men in the photo were the attackers, but the looks on their faces and their gestures suggest they were out for something more than celebration.

This photo says so much not only about the crime, but about the Middle East.

The photo is a metaphor for how the Israelis must feel surrounded by countries which, whether they have made peace with Israel or not, have populations that could easily rise up against the Jews much as the crowd in Tahrir Square so suddenly turned on Logan.

18 comments:

No point in telling Obama, he hates Israel and he hates us. If given the chance, I think he'd prefer to be with the mobs, they certainly share his ideology more than any of us do. These are the "brothers" that Obama promised to "stand with" in his book. Can't say that he didn't warn us.

"The LL story of rape in Tahir Square now forever colors the legacy of this event. "

Because the effect on one american is of course so much more important than the effect on 80,000,000 egyptians. Get some sense of perspective. What happened to her was horrible but it was at best a tiny footnote in a huge historical event. In 30 years nobody is going to be reading about her attack when studying the event.

Because the effect on one american is of course so much more important than the effect on 80,000,000 egyptians. Get some sense of perspective. What happened to her was horrible but it was at best a tiny footnote in a huge historical event. In 30 years nobody is going to be reading about her attack when studying the event.

Depends on what language they're reading it in, and if what will happen to the women and Copts in Egypt is admitted to or not.

Hopefully, in 30 years time, they'll have reached a point where they might even allow that conversion away from Islam shouldn't get you killed, and they'll get their street-assault of women problem under control.Hopefully.

Actually, "appeasing" the Arab world would involve nothing more on Israel's part than accepting the Two State solution that's been the world consensus for decades now. Their steadfast rejection of that solution has resulted in no serious negative consequences for them, so it can be expected to continue indefinitely.

Also, Israel has a little something other states in the region lack: a serious arsenal of nuclear weapons & the means to deliver them - but other than that trivial little detail, yes, Israel is totally helpless.

Actually, "appeasing" the Arab world would involve nothing more on Israel's part than accepting the Two State solution that's been the world consensus for decades now. Their steadfast rejection of that solution has resulted in no serious negative consequences for them, so it can be expected to continue indefinitely.

They did that already.

It's called "Jordan."

Didn't work, and people try to ignore it ever happened. (Or they just never bothered to get the history beyond what they heard out of the terrorists and their supporters....)

@Tlaloc: You must not be an American, or if you are you must not know what it means to be an American without smearing its connotation. The Arab world is a seething dung hole filled with people preying on each others' miseries and self-loathing. If Americans hold a better picture of themselves and each other, enough to see the metaphorical relevance of what happened ot Logan in a state manipulated "transformation to democracy", then it IS more perspective than your democracy flag waving movement has. The Egyptians in the square are no more capable of choosing human liberty as a basis for their own self-governance than a group of pre-schoolers left in the wilds. Yours is a moronic comeback to the astute commentary afforded us by an American who can see the specter of jihadi shadows at work in Egypt. You are a joke.

I think you're reading too much into the photo. All I see in the men's faces is the usual mugging for the camera, wanting to be on TV, signing V-for-victory, etc. She looks preoccupied, not afraid.

As for the "brutal and sustained sexual assault and beating", all we have is that single, unsubstantiated phrase. Sexual assault has been used to refer to anything from a pat on the fanny to gang rape. Any photos or videos of the alleged violence or visible effects? I haven't heard or read any specific descriptions besides this characterization.

It's easy to read things into an image, if you first imagine a truly "brutal and sustained sexual assault and beating" is just about to happen.

But CBS? They sat on their own story. For five days, as reporters reveled amid giddy celebrations in Tahrir Square, and as President Obama praised President Obama's handling of the Egyptian crisis, CBS reported nothing.

Only when other media had the story did CBS break the news that its own chief foreign correspondent was the victim of "a brutal and sustained sexual assault."

Pretty tough stuff!

The 5-day timeline, which he reiterates, certainly raises very serious questions in that regard. They did sit on it for several days.

"There will be no further comment from CBS News and correspondent Logan and her family respectfully request privacy at this time."

That portion has now been replaced with:

"Update: Logan left the hospital on Wed. Feb. 16, to recover in her Washington, D.C. home. She received a call from President Obama expressing his concern."

In other words, CBS tried to kill the story, first by burying it for several days amid the celebrations, and then by putting out a short and very unspecific statement, with no details about who the mob members were (or might have been), or about the anti-Semitic slurs they chanted as they brutally assaulted Logan. Did they ask the State Department lodge any form of complaint with the Army, now in charge?

Every bit of evidence, it seems, suggests that Michael Graham is correct in his charge of CBS complicity in the news cover-up of the incident.

You are seriously angry with the US complying with International law, specifically UN Resolution 242? Israeli settlements ARE illegal under international law.

Oh, and I'm pretty sure Israel feels safe behind its nukes, which no other nation in the region has. Kinda hard to "bring the mob," when all Bibi has to do is drop a nuke on the divisions on his border.

Still, barring that, one wonders where this apocalyptic fever dream of yours originates. Tunisia ain't invading Israel (look at a map), the Egyptian Army has made it perfectly clear they run Egypt and not one of them is risking his fortune by attacking Israel. Syria can't control Lebanon and the Alawite minority is scared enough of Syrians to let the Army leave, and Jordan's army is smaller than the Cornell campus police force.

The only Israel has to fear is that a) Likud-ites in America will stop running the Republican government or b) the Palestinians will the demographic war in 35-50 years.

And, as an American, I am not concerned with an American President fully complying with the strictures of international law, so long as any such stricture does not bind us to a violation of our American constitutional requirements and values . . . and to our treaty obligations, as duly ratified by the United States Senate.

But perhaps you would do well to remind a considerable number of others of the strictures of UN 242.

It was not then, and it is not now a roadmap for a "one way street" intended only as a prescription for adherence to by one of the parties.

And, while you're at it, do you suppose you could possibly explain what this following sentence of yours means? You've got me by the sneaker!

The only Israel has to fear is that a) Likud-ites in America will stop running the Republican government or b) the Palestinians will the demographic war in 35-50 years.

Bob Holt at New Jersey Newsroom, an on-line newsgathering organization (where many former reporters let go by papers publish their stories) focuses on the curious non-participating role played by al Jazeera in the coverage of this story.

"Al Jazeera English did not report on the attack against Logan. Al Jazeera English said no to the story, even as it became the top story for a 24 hour news period.

According to the network, they did not report on the story because reporters cannot be part of the story and should never lead a news piece. Interesting because throughout the 18 days of the Egyptian revolution, they talked about the rise in attacks, the arrests, the detentions and the violence directed against their very own staff."

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